Japan Won’t Be Invited to Formally Join Aukus, Australia PM Says

Ben Westcott, Bloomberg News

Anthony Albanese

, Photographer: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images AsiaPac

(Bloomberg) -- Australia has hosed down speculation Japan may be formally invited to join the Aukus security partnership, saying Tokyo’s involvement would be limited to cooperation on developing advanced technologies.

There are “no plans” to expand Aukus beyond its three founding members, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at a press conference in Canberra on Tuesday, referring to Australia, the UK and US. He added that Aukus would look for external research cooperation on a “project-by-project” basis.

“If there can be gains that are in the interests of the three Aukus partners but in addition any partners outside the direct Aukus relationship, then that will be considered,” Albanese said, adding Japan was a “natural candidate” to work on such projects.

Australia, the UK and US signed the Aukus agreement in September 2021 with the goal of helping Canberra deploy a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines by the 2030s. The pact is part of a pivot by Washington to strengthen its presence in the Indo-Pacific regions as China’s military ambitions expand.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said at the same press conference that Aukus is more a technology sharing relationship than a defense alliance.

A key area of interest for potential partners such as Japan and New Zealand is the so-called Pillar II, under which the Aukus partners will cooperate and share strategic high-tech research such as quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

Earlier, Marles and his US and UK counterparts had issued a joint statement highlighting the potential for working with Tokyo.

“Recognizing Japan’s strengths and its close bilateral defense partnerships with all three countries, we are considering cooperation with Japan on AUKUS Pillar II advanced capability projects,” they said.

The statement came as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visits Washington for a three-way leaders meeting with President Joe Biden and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Philippines has been at forefront of tensions with Beijing in territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Kishida is due to meet with Biden one-on-one on April 10.

--With assistance from Peter Martin.